


Rising Storm

by arashianelf



Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - School, Established Relationship, F/M, Gen, Genderbending, Getting Together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-07
Updated: 2015-01-18
Packaged: 2018-02-16 11:13:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2267619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arashianelf/pseuds/arashianelf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Their first appearance in Miyako Gakuen brought questions. Who were they? The school would soon find out. They had come, and had brought the storm with them. They would leave nothing untouched. That was their promise, their goal.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So, this was in the works for about two weeks. The plot bunny that hit me for this story was the one that pushed me to finish The Missing, actually. I hope you'll enjoy this as much as you did The Missing or my rainbow on your wrist series! Also, warning for genderbending! There is girl!Nino and girl!Ohno in this story.  
> Disclaimer: Arashi does not (sadly) belong to me.

“Was it really necessary to call them here, Principal?” the secretary asked. The principal stood at the floor-to-ceiling windows, watching as a trio walked across the courtyard. “The students are afraid to even come to school nowadays, and you ask me if it is necessary? The students need to be able to feel safe in school, and this group will be able to do that,” the Principal said.

“But sir, the teachers-“

“You leave the teachers to me, Kaede-san. When they are officially announced as part of the school, even I can’t stop them then,” the Principal interrupted his secretary politely.

“At this time, the students are still in school,” a man with brown hair said. “I can already tell that this is going to bad. Details?” another man asked.

“Miyako Gakuen. First established as a boys school in 1978. Became a co-ed school three years ago, so girls are still the minority. Very good grades are needed to get in. Average attendance of school students is 46%. Of that 46%, 83% are boys,” the last of the trio said.

She was wearing a long white dress, with a pair of sneakers that just about ruined the look. The first man that had spoken was wearing a V-neck sweater with an undershirt and jeans. The second man was dressed more stylishly with a graphic tee and a studded jacket, matched with skinny jeans. His right forefinger was adorned with a skull ring.

“Discrimination against girls? That brings back memories. Man, this place is so empty I can almost see the tumbleweed rolling past,” the stylish man said.

“Well, we’re called the Kaze trio for a reason. Let’s go, we only have two hours to scout out the school before we have to report back in,” the girl said. As they walked down the hallways, looking into classes, they observed the way the teachers treated the students. Finally, the bell rang for break.

As the trio walked around the school observing student interactions, they garnered a lot of attention. They walked down the hallways again, peering into rooms. The stylish man led the way, with the girl on his right and the other man on his left. All of them had blank, calm faces on.

Finally, they stopped in front of the door to the Principal’s office. His secretary announced their arrival and they entered. As soon as the door closed behind them, the Principal pressed a button. “Soundproof button,” he explained. When the sound of machinery had stopped, the trio burst into smiles.

“Ogura-sensei! You were the one that had requested for us to come to this school?” the stylish man asked. The principal nodded.  
“I did train you five in the teacher vocational school. I knew you would be up for the job, especially in a school like this. Besides, you five have a reputation going, and I knew that you would love to treat this school to your teachings. Also, you guys are going to have fun here, from what I know of you after training you guys for five years, especially you and Nino. You two just love your verbal smackdowns,” the principal said.

“That we do, right Jun?” the girl, Nino, smirked. “Masaki, what did you observe?” Jun ignored Nino with ease. Nino paid no mind to it; this was a song and dance they had done for so long.

“Teachers show biasness. Male teachers tend to favour male students, female teachers favour female students. Female students are quiet, trying not to attract attention from male students. Overall, discrimination rate is 86%,” Masaki said.

For all that he looked like an airhead, he was incredibly observant. “Now you see why I asked for you five? You guys are the only ones that are able to do this,” Ogura said. Jun nodded. “Well then, we’ll be going to report to the other two. The ministry agreed to send us here, so we have their full support. Teachers will be fired if unable to rehabilitate them. Students will be taught accordingly,” Nino said.

“I expected nothing less. You guys are given free rein by the ministry to do whatever is necessary for reason,” Ogura said, nodding. The trio smiled at him. “Have a nice day, Ogura-sensei! We’ll see you soon!” Masaki said brightly.

They then left the office and the school, just as the bell signaling the end of break rang, leaving the students to shuffle back to class, eyes still following the trio as they left the school compound.


	2. Chapter One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm gonna put this chapter up for you guys and I made it really long too (well for me it's long) so hopefully it'll last you until I finish my exams in October. I might or might not post another chapter while I'm having my exams (yes that is me procrastinating and refusing to study) so yepp.
> 
> Warning for genderbending! There is girl!Nino and girl!Ohno in this story.

“Good morning, school,” the principal spoke into the microphone. Nino noted that the school attendance of the day was 73%. When she relayed this to the others, Sho said, “Good enough for our first day.”

“Today, we have new teachers joining our school,” the principal announced. The announcement cause the noise level in the hall to pick up as the students and teachers started whispering amongst each other. The teachers were surprised to hear this as they had not been told anything.

The rumours about the Kaze trio had spread throughout the whole school, even to those that hadn’t been there when they’d scouted out the school. “Please put your hands together for our new teachers!” Principal Ogura announced. The applause was raucous, with the students wanting to get a second (or first) look at the new teachers.

Ohno walked out first, followed by Nino, Sho, Aiba and Jun. Ohno was wearing a long white dress not dissimilar to the one that Nino had been wearing when she’d scouted the school. She also had her hair up in a half ponytail, with a pair of white flats to complete the look. The whole outfit gave her a rather ethereal look.

Next was Nino, who was dressed in a cream-colored blouse that with a skirt that went down to the middle of her calves. She had let her hair down, and together with Ohno, provided a rather pretty sight for the students.

Sho was wearing a white shirt with a black jacket and slacks. He looked extremely professional. Aiba was wearing a grey shirt with black slacks. Jun was dressed in a black shirt and grey slacks. Together as five, they made quite a sight.

“Test, test. Good morning, Miyako Gakuen. I’m Sakurai Sho, and these are Ohno Satoko, Ninomiya Kazue, Aiba Masaki and Matsumoto Jun. We are very pleased to be here and look forward to working with you,“ Sho spoke.

As he spoke, a collective sigh rose from the girls in the student body as they looked at them with hearts in their eyes, while the boys murmured among themselves about the two female teachers. As they stood to the side, Principal Ogura took the microphone and said, “Ohno-sensei will be teaching Art and Music. She will also be in charge of the Dance club, and is the homeroom teacher of 3E2.

“Ninomiya-sensei will be teaching Music with Ohno-sensei and the Technology class. She is in charge of the Symphonic Orchestra club and will be homeroom teacher for Class 3E5. Sakurai-sensei will be teaching Math and Economics and is in charge of the Debate club. He will be homeroom teacher for Class 3E3. Aiba-sensei will be in charge of the Baseball club, and will be teaching Chemistry and Physical Education.

“He will also be homeroom teacher of 3E4. Lastly, Matsumoto-sensei will be teaching Home Economics and will be in charge of the Drama club. He will be homeroom teacher of Class 3E1.” After a few more announcements, the school was dismissed.

Some of the teachers approached the principal to talk to him. When Jun walked past them, he realized that they were asking about the change of teachers-in-charge of the clubs. Jun smirked. Even if they tried to take over the clubs again, their skills would ever surpass the five of them.

Nino had been playing the piano, guitar, bass and drums for as long as she could remember, while Satoko had been dancing and singing for just about the same period of time. Jun himself had been acting in school plays and with acting troupes since he was a student.

Sho had a politician for a father and a university teacher for a mother, resulting in him growing up with excellent oratory skills and having all sorts of information in his head. The fact that he had gone to Keio for a degree in Economics did not help their case at all. Aiba had been playing baseball since before he met Kazue, and the pair had met when they were seven.

The awards and trophies that they had won were kept in a gigantic cupboard in the house they shared. Shaking his head slightly, Jun followed the others and left to get ready for class. The students were buzzing even more in anticipation after seeing the new teachers.  
Classes 3E1 through 5 could not wait to meet their new homeroom teachers, whether it was to bully them into submission or ogle at. After gathering the things that they needed from their tables, they left the teachers’ office together and wished each other luck.

“Give ‘em hell, guys. We’re here to rehabilitate them and change this school,” Nino said. “They won’t know what hit them,” Aiba smirked. They nodded and then split up to head for their classes.

-

Within the week, the news about the new teachers had reached the entire school. The students who had had them for their lessons told others how the teachers were very strict about schoolwork and seemed to be very against bullying.

However, when students went up to them individually with questions, they were patient and never got angry, unlike in class. People also gossiped about the ring on the middle finger of Ohno-sensei’s left hand. She refused to answer any questions asked about it. The students debated over who she was engaged to. (They’d decided that it must have been one of the three male new teachers.)

 

(They weren’t wrong.)

The next week, however, when club activities resumed, more stories spread like wildfire. The teachers that had been previously in charge of the clubs that the quintet was to take over were stubborn, and had continued to coach the students. Students who were in the clubs spread the stories of the verbal and sometimes physical smackdowns the new teachers had given them.

When the quintet sat down in the cafeteria for lunch the Friday since the smackdowns had started, most of the students’ attention were drawn to them as they talked and laughed. As they ate, Sho said, “I’m not surprised Nino made the first move.”

Every day of the week, each of them had taken turns to show the teachers the reason why they had been chosen to take over the clubs. The Monday of that week was the Symphonic Orchestra club. Nino had been wanting to check up on the club she was now in charge of. Instead, when she reached the room where the club was practicing, she found the ex-teacher-in-charge there after the club had finished playing their piece.

As Nino watched, the teacher insulted and scolded the girl for her poor piano playing skills. She stalked up to him. “Excuse me, Hideo-sensei. This girl played perfectly well. Just because the other members couldn’t play well, you shouldn’t blame everything on the girls,” she said calmly.

“What did you say?” the teacher thundered, “She caused the boys to play the wrong notes!” “And how exactly do you explain that?” Nino retorted, “I don’t even think you can play the piano.” The teacher looked as if he was about to explode. _Success. Attention diverted._ The teacher sputtered, “Of course I can!”

“Well, how about this then? Let’s do a piano battle. If I, as a female, can play better than you, I’m taking over this club. You will resign as the teacher-in-charge of this club. If you can play better than me, I’ll leave you alone,” Nino said. “Fine!” the teacher said angrily, “I’ll win anyway.”

Sitting down at the piano bench, the teacher started played ‘Canon in D’. However, he fumbled up a few of the notes, but continued playing. Nino stood at the side, watching. She jerked her head to signal to the girl to go sit down, which the girl did.

When the teacher was done with his admittedly quite well done rendition of ‘Canon in D’, he gestured for Nino to sit. “Let’s see you do better than that,” he spat. “Oh, I can. I’ve beaten better players than you,” Nino said loftily, raising her hands.

Placing her hands onto the piano keys, she launched into a fast-paced rendition of ‘Flight of the Bumblebee’. She never screwed up once. “Well?” she said when she was done, to raucous applause. The teacher sputtered again, but agreed to it. “Fine! See if you can control this bunch of idiots!” he stormed out of the room.

When the door closed, she turned to face the students. “Now, show me what you can do. Play the piece again,” she said. After that, when the club had met again on Wednesday, the students had improved by leaps and bounds under Nino’s tutelage. Those that had laughed at Nino’s teachings were treated to a show and tell of the number of instruments she could play. They never said anything against her again.

Next had been Sho. Apparently, he had made the ex-teacher-in-charge of the Debate club break down. “Well, she asked me if I could debate,” he pouted, as the others roared with laughter. Sho told them about how Katsushige-sensei had asked him to debate on the topic of Economics after she’d found out that Sho had debated before, determined to beat this new teacher.

Upon hearing the topic that the teacher had wanted Sho to debate against her on, the raucous laughter went on for long minutes as they tried to speak but were laughing too hard at the thought of what had happened. Even Sho laughed a bit.

“She didn’t even know that I had a degree for Economics! Man, all those years studying in Keio was worth it,” he said. Due to her inability to debate against Sho’s relentless attacks, she’d cried out of frustration.

Jun had acted out a scene from the play that the students were currently were doing with the ex-teacher-in-charge and watched as the students voted that his acting had been better than Yamagi-sensei’s. “He’d never stood a chance,” Jun said smugly. It was a given, of course. Jun had trained with an acting troupe for the years that Sho had been at Keio.

As for Ohno, the students and ex-teacher-in-charge had entered the dance studio only to find Ohno there already, dancing to one of the songs Nino had arranged for her. She had changed into sweats and a loose shirt, and tied her hair up into a ponytail.

As she danced, the students noted how her eyes had changed when she danced. Compared to her usual dazed look, this Ohno-sensei was perfectly focused. “Imada-sensei backed down quite easily when I’d told him that I had choreographed the dance myself,” Satoko shrugged. The others snorted.

“Your dances are so complicated that it took us a week to fully master one song, Satoko,” Sho said. “And we’d been watching you choreograph it for a month by then. Now imagine if you’re someone totally new and is seeing this person dance so complicated and yet fluidly,” Kazue continued. “Ah, I see,” Ohno said. “You totally don’t!” Masaki laughed. “You’re right, I don’t.” The statement brought laughter as Jun hit her on the head slightly, shaking with laughter at their oldest.

Today was the day Aiba would check up on the Baseball club. He had heard good things about the club, and the number of trophies they had won. “Hey, you guys wanna come with me?” he asked the other four. “Sure,” they shrugged. They didn’t have anything on after that, and both Jun and Nino also had some baseball background. The fact that they could go home together was a bonus.

When the bell rang signaling the end of school, the five went down to the baseball field. There, the other four sat at the stands while Aiba waited at the side of the field for the students to come. When the ex-teacher-in-charge appeared, the other four grinned. They were in for a show.

“What are you doing here, Higashiyama-sensei?” Aiba asked. “Here to coach my team of course,” the teacher said. “Didn’t Ogura-sensei say it already? I’m taking over the club, so let me ask again, what are you doing here?” Aiba asked.

“If you really think you’re worth this position, Aiba-sensei,” Higashiyama just about sneered, “Let’s have a small competition, shall we?” “Sure, I don’t mind,” Aiba shrugged. “Who’s the best pitcher here?” Aiba turned to ask the students. “Kurono-kun,” the students all gestured to one student.

“Right. You’ll pitch ten balls to each teacher,” Aiba told him. When Kurono was in position, Aiba gestured for Higashiyama to go first. As the student pitched the balls to the teacher, the other four watched as he missed three out of the ten balls that were pitched to him. Aiba said nothing, just stepped up to the base and got into position. He got nine out of ten, and that only ball was due to the fact that he had not gotten used to the way Kurono pitched his balls.

When he was done, the other four stood up and joined Aiba on the field. “Any more questions about my ability to coach this team?” Aiba asked. “No,” Higashiyama gritted out. “Excellent. You may head back to the office now. If you have any complaints, the principal is always free to hear them,” Aiba said.

As soon as Higashiyama had left the field, Aiba turned to face the baseball team, who were gaping at him. “Right. Here’s the plan. Kurono-kun will pitch to each of the members. I want to see how each of you bat. After Kurono-kun has pitched to every one of you, the next person will go up to pitch. So on and so forth. Each person should have pitched once and batted… twelve times when we’re done,” Aiba counted the number of members there was.

“Nino, do me a favour and correct the batters if necessary. Jun, pitchers please. Sho-kun, Ohno-kun, you can watch from the stands if you want,” Aiba said to the other four teachers. Nodding, the teachers split up to do what Aiba had told them to. Aiba was normally a bright and cheerful guy, but when someone doubted his ability to do well in what he did best, well, that ticked him off.

After a tiring day of training, with Nino, Jun and Aiba observing and correcting to the best of their abilities, the students were dismissed. They chatted amongst themselves about how the teachers seemed so bad-ass while dealing with the ex-teachers-in-charge.

After they were sure that all the students had left, the five of them pitched balls to each other as Masaki, Jun and Nino took turns batting. They left the baseball field when the school was about to close, laughing with each other.

Despite the light atmosphere, they knew that these first two weeks were just barely scraping the surface of the amount of discrimination going on in the school, and that they would have a hard time ridding the school of it. As they talked about it over dinner, they grinned wolfishly at the challenge. This would be fun. Miyako Gakuen wouldn’t know what they had allowed into their school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was about 2500+ words, which is a new record for me cos I have never ever written this much for a chaptered before XP Anyway, I hope this will tide you over until I post the new chapter!


	3. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a long time coming. I got distracted with all the one-shot ideas popping into my head oops. Hahaha hope you enjoy this chapter! Warning for genderbending! There is girl!Nino and girl!Ohno in this story.

“Hey, Miyagi! I heard you have a lot of dolls! You can go join the girls when they play with their dolls then, you’re such a girl!” one boy jeered to a curled up form in the corner of a classroom. It was after school, and the three boys had cornered another, not allowing him to go home. Unbeknownst to them, someone was standing at the door, video camera in hand.

-

Nino looked up when she heard someone call her. She was currently in the teachers’ office marking papers. “Ah, Miyagi-kun. Is there something you need help with?” Nino smiled. “S-sensei, you said that we could come to you whenever we faced problems in school, right?” Miyagi stuttered quietly.

Nino nodded. “Yes, I did. Would you like to talk about it?” she asked. Noticing the furtive glances he gave, she said, “Let’s go to one of the empty classrooms.” She stood and led Miyagi out of the teachers’ office, making eye contact with Jun at the same time.

Jun nodded, and stood up after Nino and Miyagi had left. He then exited the teachers’ office, going to search for the other three. The time they had been waiting for had finally come.

Meanwhile, Nino led Miyagi into a classroom, and shut the door. “Now, what problem are you facing?” Nino asked calmly. Miyagi seemed hesitant. “Don’t worry, this conversation will be confidential,” Nino assured him with a gentle smile. Miyagi opened his mouth and began to speak.

-

“-and if you take 4x over y to be equals to log z, what will you get? The questions I just stated will be your homework for the day. Remember to hand it up tomorrow!” Sho finished teaching. The students stood and greeted him before starting to pack. As students filed out of the room, Sho looked up and called, “Kenta-kun, please stay back for a while.”

The boy in question frowned and told his friends to go ahead, before approaching the male teacher. “Yes, Sakurai-sensei?” he asked. “Kenta-kun, you play chess, right?” Sho asked. Kenta nodded. “Yes, I’m in the chess club,” he replied. “Good. Then you won’t mind playing a game of chess with me?” Sho asked.

Kenta raised his eyebrows in question. “A game of chess, sensei?” he asked. “Yes. I brought one today and felt like playing with someone. And you, Kenta-kun, is that lucky someone. I heard that your chess-playing skills are exceptional and would like to see this for myself,” Sho explained, taking out a chess board and its pieces.

The student pulled up a chair and sat as Sho set up the pieces. “White starts,” he gestured for Kenta to go first. As Kenta moved one of his pawns forward, Sho asked, “So Kenta-kun, what do you do after school?” Sho made his move as Kenta answered. “I go to the arcade with my friends then go home to do my homework and spend time with my family.”

“Ah, I see. A few teachers have seen you and your group of friends loitering around in school. Not at the arcade then?” Sho said lightly, waiting for Kenta to make his move. Kenta did, before speaking, “Sensei, they must have seen wrongly. I was not anywhere near the school after hours.” Sho made his move after Kenta finished speaking.

“Really? What do you know of bullying, Kenta-kun?” Sho changed the topic abruptly. The boy seemed shaken by the abrupt change and took a moment before answering. “It involves calling people derogatory names and hurting them, both physically and mentally.” He then moved a piece.

“The dictionary describes the term ‘bullying’ to mean the use of force, threat, or coercion to abuse, intimidate, or aggressively dominate others. I describe it as making someone feel as if they should not belong, or injuring them in any way, physically or mentally,” Sho said, tapping a finger against his chin, as if pondering his next move. He moved a rook.

As Kenta considered his next move, Sho spoke. “If you think that your actions have not been noticed by the teachers, you are making a grave mistake. One person has already come up to us teachers. How many more will come? How many were bullied at the hands of people like you?” Previously, Sho’s tone was light, as if they were talking about something as casual as the weather. However, now his voice deepened, as he became more and more serious.

“I wonder, Kenta-kun, how would you feel if someone were to be bullying you on a daily basis? I for one would definitely be unable to tolerate that,” Sho said. Kenta made his move with shaking hands. “How are you so sure that I’m bullying people? That’s a false accusation!” Kenta said with false bravado.

“Is it still a false accusation when there is visual proof?” As Sho spoke, he revealed a thumb drive. “This thumb drive has a video in it, of you bullying a certain student called Miyagi. This evidence would definitely get you suspended for two weeks at least.”

“What do you want?” Kenta said, pale. “What I want, what the teachers want, is for you to stop bullying your schoolmates, and to get your friends to not bully anyone else,” Sho stated calmly, making his move. “But they’re girls! They don’t belong in this school!” Kenta exclaimed, his composure long gone.

Sho’s voice hardened again. “The decision of whether or not they belong here does not lie in the hands of mere students. You do not decide who attends this school. Are girls not human? Everyone here has feelings, just like you do. Think about what they face every day. Try to imagine a world where everyone is spouting insults at you,” he said.

“B-but-“ Kenta was interrupted by the teacher. “Your move, Kenta-kun,” Sho said, voice calm and light again, as if he had never changed his tone. Kenta made a move and Sho spoke again. “Tell your friends and get it in your head that you are not allowed to bully people in this school. The rulebook, if you bothered to read it, says as much.”

“This is blackmail!” The exclamation burst out of the boy. “It is only blackmail if you are afraid of what would happen if I passed this thumb drive to the principal. Are you?” Sho replied. “I do not tolerate bullies in my class, Kenta-kun. And if I hear of you or your friends bullying anyone, I assure you that the punishment you face will not be a suspension. It will be an expulsion. Am I clear?”  
As Kenta nodded fearfully, Sho moved a piece and said, “Checkmate.”

-

“God, that was so tiring! I had to think of moves to corner him _and_ intimidate him at the same time!” Sho collapsed into his chair in the teachers’ office. The other four got up from their desks and crowded around his desk. “So, how did it go?” Aiba asked eagerly. “Done. Thanks for letting me borrow your thumb drive, Kazue-chan. You have the video saved in an encrypted file?” Sho said. Nino nodded.

“Well, an excellent job for our first case in this school. How’s the attendance rate, Nino? It’s been three weeks,” Satoko said. “It’s at 77% today, 4% higher than our first day,” Nino stated after checking the system. “Well, that won’t do. I want us to have at least 95% by the second quarter of the year. At this rate, we won’t be able to reach that goal,” Jun said.

“Really, Jun? 95% by the second quarter?” Nino asked skeptically. “It doesn’t hurt to hope,” Jun retorted. Sho stopped them before they could launch into one of their rapid-fire arguments again. “Enough arguing, children. We need to go home and do more research and background checks. We’re still not done with those, remember?”

As one, they groaned at the thought of the amount of work that awaited them at home. “Do we really need to conduct background checks on every single person in every school that we’re dispatched to?” Aiba groaned. “Yes, we do, Masaki. Remember how that case in Ichinomiya that we relied on the kid’s family background to understand why he started bullying?” Sho said.

“Ugh, that case,” Aiba moaned in pain as he recalled the exact case. “So, let’s pack up and go,” Satoko said. Nodding, they moved back to their desk to pack up whatever that they needed to bring home. “Let’s go home, guys!” Aiba said excitedly as they turned the lights off behind them.


	4. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for not updating recently! I hit a bump in the road, in which I didn't feel like doing anything, like writing fics or doing my holiday homework >.<

“Hey, Sho-chan,” Aiba called. “Yes, Masaki?” Sho turned to Aiba. The five of them were sitting around their dining table with their laptops, going through the background checks of the staff and students of Miyako Gakuen. “I just received an email from Johnny-san. He wants us to pay him a visit, because apparently the background checks brought something up and he has to tell us about it in person. I’m forwarding it to all of you now,” Aiba said.

Sho pulled up the email once he received it, skimming through the email. “Okay. Reply with a confirmation that we will be there tomorrow at noon,” Sho told him. “What do you think is going on?” Jun asked him while Aiba started typing out a reply.

“I don’t know. For Johnny-san to want to tell the information to us in person and not via an encrypted file is very rare. It probably means that we’ll be dealing with someone related to a high-profile person,” Sho said, “At the same time, it might be that Johnny-san wants to check up on us, see how we’re doing. After all, the last time we went to HQ was what, half a year ago? The other teams all go back once a month, I think, to check in with HQ.”

-

The next day, Jun drove them back to the office building that they called headquarters. Once they’d parked, they got onto the elevator that would take them directly to the floor with Johnny’s office. As they got out from the elevator, the secretary stood up and told them, “Kitagawa-san is waiting for you. Please head inside.”

Nino knocked and opened the door when she heard someone say, “Come in!” “Johnny-san,” they greeted as they filed into the room. “Hello. How have you been?” Johnny said warmly. “We’ve been fine, and you?” Sho replied. “Ah, you know how it goes. Old age and everything,” Johnny waved a hand in the air.

“You called for us?” Jun asked. “Ah, yes. You five are stationed in Miyako Gakuen now, am I right?” Johnny confirmed. As they nodded, Johnny continued, “Well, I have gotten news from the political team that one of the teachers in that school is the cousin of the Minister of Manpower, and that he was placed there for a specific reason.”

“Which teacher is it, if I may ask?” Nino asked. “You should have read of him in the background checks. I believe his name is Yamamoto Hiro,” Johnny told them. “Yamamoto-sensei? His background check turned up with nothing incriminating on it,” Jun said, flipping through the file he had brought with him, which held the background information of the entire school in it.

“And that’s what they want you to believe. The political team sent a message ahead, and wanted me to warn the educational team, which is you-tachi, that Yamamoto Hiro was placed in that school in order to subtly influence the principal to vote for his cousin in the upcoming elections,” Johnny shared.

“Aren’t the next elections in two years’ time? They are already planning and trying to gain support this early? Also, Ogura-sensei would never allow his views to be influenced by others,” Aiba wondered.

“Besides that, my own team stationed here has found evidence of Yamamoto Hiro and his cousin’s discriminatory views. I have told the political team the same thing that I’m telling you now. You must, at all costs, remove these two people from their roles in society. They cannot be allowed to influence the younger generations with their views,” Johnny ordered.

“After all, I did start this company with one goal in mind: to rid Japan of discrimination. That is also the reason why I have different teams in different sectors. You know this very well. Of course, if you need anything all you need to do is to ask, as long as the company and your team’s true identity and goal aren’t compromised,” he elaborated.

“Yes, sir,” they replied.

“Dismissed.”

-

“Just what we need, a teacher with political backing. Sounds familiar, Sho-chan?” Satoko teased as they reached home, settling back around the dining table. “Well, if I have to I will ask my father to help me. After all, he did allow me to join the company,” Sho replied.

“Well, I guess we can tell the political team that. I’ll email them. What’s the name of their group?” Kazue said. “SMAP, I think,” Jun informed her.

“I’ll think of ways to get Yamamoto fired. I’m feeling a bit suspicious about some other teachers too. They might be helping him. Jun, can you do a more in-depth background check on Yamamoto? I’ll give you the names of the other teachers later. Masaki, Satoko, you guys can look through the backgrounds that are already done,” Sho delegated their tasks, and they set to work.

-

After a few hours, Aiba broke the silence that had fallen upon them. “Sho-chan, I think a few of the students are working for Yamamoto, or at least, their parents are,” he said. “Let me see,” Sho said.

“If you look at these students’ parents’ bank accounts, they are receiving identical amounts of money every month, but they are not working for the same company. They are, however, part of the higher end of the middle class,” Aiba pointed out.

“Enough influence, but not enough money,” Sho thought out loud. “I have a few as well,” Satoko spoke up, passing her fiancé the relevant papers. “That brings us to four teachers and seven students,” Sho counted.

“I guess it’s time for a break. I’m running the background check on the last teacher that you told me, Sho-kun. It’s time for dinner anyway. I’m making chahan today. Satoko, can you come and help?” Jun stood up from the table. Satoko nodded and stood up as well, following their youngest to the kitchen.

“We’ll make plans after dinner, then,” Sho said, starting to collect the papers and arranging them neatly. Kazue and Masaki stood up as well, helping Sho pack up their work and set the table for dinner.


	5. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the promised chapter! This will be the last chapter for a while as I'm going off on holiday tomorrow! I'll (hopefully) come back with more chapters or one-shots for you guys! This chapter has more explanation about their company. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

After dinner, they cleared the table of all the dishes and began work while Jun and Sho took care of the dishes. Nino then received an email and groaned. “Guys, check your emails,” he said. Aiba and Ohno did, and groaned too. “What is it?” Sho asked from the kitchen.

“Julie-san sent out an email to tell us that we have to perform next Saturday!” Aiba said. “What? We only have a week to prepare?” Jun exclaimed. “She said that we’ll be performing at Tokyo Dome with the others from Kanjani8 and TOKIO, and that the songs we’re performing are ‘Believe’, ‘Face Down’, ‘Ai wo Utaou’, ‘Future’, ‘Oh Yeah’, ‘Summer Splash’, ‘Carnival Night Part 2’ and ‘GUTS!’” Nino read out from the email.

“This means that we’re going to have to practice every night after we’re done with school,” Jun thought out loud. “I know the cover for the company, Johnny’s Entertainment is a talent agency, but maybe they could have given us a better timing? Like say, during the holidays?” Nino complained.

“You guys say the same thing every time we receive an assignment, and in the end we’ll still do it because we’re getting paid for it, not to mention that you all love performing,” Sho said. “Don’t forget that Jun works best under stress too!” Nino added.

“We knew what we were signing on for when we read the contract. ‘Each team, regardless of number of members, has to perform a minimum of two times a month.’” Satoko quoted.“Man, I remember when I first read the contract. Along with our jobs in a team, we would have to perform with masks! I was so surprised by that!” Sho laughed.

“Then Johnny-san explained to us how being a talent agency was a cover for the true purpose of the company, because having a company that is directed at eliminating discrimination would have caused a lot of controversy among the public.

“Johnny even made the music and entertainment teams wear masks even though the company’s cover is under those sectors. What are the names of those teams again?” Nino asked. “The music team should be TOKIO and the entertainment team should be the guys from Kanjani8, if I remember correctly,” Sho replied.

“Oh! I remember the Kanjani8 team! I’ve always wondered why even though their name is Kanjani8, they only have seven members,” Aiba said. “Hiroki Uchi left a few years ago, caused a few scandals before Johnny pulled him out. I heard that he nearly blew the company’s cover. Besides, haven’t you asked Yoko that numerous times?” Nino said.

“Anyway, we’ll need to sync up our schedules so we’re sure when we can meet up as soon as school ends. Sho-kun, you have our schedules, can you do that? Kazu-chan, can you call the company and see if we can book a studio there for us to practice once Sho has synced up our schedules?” Jun said. The two of them nodded.

“Oh-chan, find the soundtrack and dance video for us? It hasn’t been that long since we danced these songs but it won’t hurt for us to watch the video again. Aiba-chan, can you continue with the background checks? I’ll help you,” Jun continued delegating tasks. “Jun-kun, the political team replied with information on Yamamoto and his family,” Nino said, checking her email. “Okay. Forward it to us and reply with thanks,” Jun said.

After a while, Sho passed the schedules to Nino for her to call in and book the studio at 5 in the evening for the next week. Ohno had also finished her delegated task, and as soon as Nino had settled the booking, the three of them went back to work on the background checks and their lesson plans.

At midnight, Sho stood up and stretched. “I’ll be heading to bed first. Satoko,” he shook Ohno awake, as she had fallen asleep upon the laptop keyboard. The two of them headed to bed. “I’ll stay up a while longer, the two of you can go and sleep first,” Nino said.

“I’ll stay with you,” Jun said. Aiba nodded and powered down his laptop, leaving the dining area for his room. Jun sat down next to Nino and watched as Nino went through a few more students’ backgrounds. Finally, Jun coaxed his girlfriend to power down her laptop and head to bed.

-

The week passed with the five of them exhausted and stressed. A normal school week was already very tiring, but with the additional dance practices they had to do, they were exhausted by the end of the week.

They turned in early on Friday night, having had slight progress with the background checks and the Yamamoto issue, and knowing that they had to wake early in order to get ready for the performance. They woke up on Saturday feeling tired, which was definitely better than exhausted, and after getting ready, made their way to Tokyo Dome.

Once there, they dressed in their performance clothes and went through a few rounds of rehearsals with the other teams, fooling around and generally having fun. They went ahead with the performances once it was time, donning their respective masks.

The masks were made to ensure that they would not drop regardless of how vigorous an activity they did, and hence would prevent anyone from finding out their identities when they were performing. The performance ended and the three teams proclaimed it to be a resounding success this time.

“I remember when my mask nearly dropped last month! I nearly got a heart attack,” Murakami said. “I think you didn’t tie it tightly enough, that’s why!” Yokohama retorted. “Let’s go back, yeah? Good job on the performance, guys! Good luck with your assignment!” Ohkura corralled them gently. They waved goodbye and the three teams separated for home.

Once at home, the five of them set their masks back into their boxes and kept them in one of the cupboards. “Let’s shower first, then we can go and have dinner,” Sho suggested. They all nodded in agreement and went to shower.

-

After dinner in a restaurant, they went back home and started work again. They still had one third of the students’ and teachers’ backgrounds to go through, and Jun intended for them to be done with it by Sunday. They got back to work with determination to get this tedious work done.

Finally, on Sunday, they finished up the last of the background checks. “God, no matter how many times we do this it’s still such tedious work,” Sho sighed. They were having lunch in a sushi restaurant. “Well, at least we’re done with it now. So, noticed any other cases yet?” Jun questioned. “I think the teacher of the kendo club might be bullying the girls in the club,” Satoko spoke up. “Great. Masaki, you’re the only one amongst us five with kendo experience, can you go for a refresher course and take care of this issue?” Sho said.

“Okay. Still, it’s been more than ten years!” Masaki said. “Time for you to brush up on your kendo skills!” Nino teased. “The classes are doing fine right now. I haven’t noticed any bullying in the classes I teach. However, we still need to be alert and on the watch for possible cases. Also, we have to watch Yamamoto,” Jun said. “We’ll talk about that later. I’m eating first!” Sho said. Nodding, they went back to eating, the matter pushed aside for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mask: http://www.dhresource.com/albu_257019181_00-1.0x0/mens-halloween-masquerade-masks-venetian.jpg
> 
> Basically this is Ohno’s mask, the rest are according to their colours but they’re all the same design.


	6. Chapter Five

After one month and three weeks, Aiba had relearnt everything related to kendo. Aiba would be the best person to deal with the kendo teacher, they knew. Aiba, when starting to learn something, took a while to grasp the basics of it. However, after a while, he managed to grasp the basics and then would proceed to improve in leaps and bounds.

As such, he would be able to master anything he wanted to as long as he persevered. Fortunately, Aiba had perseverance in spades. The others would find thing like learning either boring, or they were too slow in learning that they could not deal with cases in time.

Meanwhile, the other four concentrated their efforts on finding concrete evidence that would allow them to effectively fire Yamamoto and the teachers that supported him and his discriminatory views. They knew that Yamamoto would definitely create a fuss by going to his cousin, and hence they were working with the political team to create a scandal that would affectively cause them to lose the power base that they had gathered.

When the teams were first created, the first thing they were told was that apart from Johnny-san and the person that asked for a team, any and every person could be treated as someone that discriminated unless proven otherwise, and they were given the power to remove anyone from their post regardless of sector, and no matter how high-ranking the position was.

Of course, they first had to hand in concrete evidence to headquarters before they were given the go ahead. It was one of the reasons why the company was kept as a secret. If the fact that select people had the ability to fire anyone, even a head of a company or the president of a country, were to be known, it would cause a lot of controversy. However, both the educational team and the political team were struggling to find evidence and material that would allow them to do their jobs.

The Yamamoto family knew how to cover their tracks well, but since they had already uncovered signs of bribing the parents of students, they were one step closer. They sent the evidence that they had on to the national security team, hoping that they would be able to find more evidence so that they could start creating a scandal for the political side. The educational team almost had Yamamoto, they just had to have concrete evidence of him being discriminating.

It was as if Yamamoto knew that someone was watching his every move, just waiting for him to slip up. Since they could not find anything, they started to deal with the kendo teacher first. Aiba had studied the theoretical part of kendo, and practiced the skills every day after they were done with school and their assigned chores.

After three weeks of waiting, the national security team produced some results. “Sho-kun, Kinki Kids came in with information that they dug up about Yamamoto,” Satoko said. “Ah, okay. Forward the email to the rest of us,” Sho said. Ohno nodded. They looked through the information that had been given to them. “This is going to help us greatly,” Sho said out loud, already planning something to deal with Yamamoto, “But first, Aiba-chan.”

“Yes?” Aiba looked up. “Are you ready? It’s time,” he asked. “Almost there, I think. I’m not quite yet at the level of my teacher yet, but it should be enough to beat Wakane-sensei. I just need a few more days of practice,” Aiba replied. Sho nodded. “Will three days be enough for you to be ready?” Jun asked. Aiba nodded.

“Alright then. We get five days to plan for Yamamoto and the other teachers working for him,” Jun said, planning things out with Sho. “Nino, I’ll need you to help me with some stuff like surveillance,“ Sho said. Nino nodded absentmindedly, eyes trained on the screen of her DS. “Just tell me what to do,” she said.

Three days passed in a flash, and it was finally time to deal with the kendo teacher. Jun had given Aiba up until the day on which kendo training was held, which was on every Thursday. As such, they saluted him jokingly and sent him on his way. When Aiba walked into the hall where kendo training was held, and walked past the rows of students doing kiri-kaeshi and ji-geiko, and some other kendo training exercises.

He approached the teacher-in-charge who was observing the students as they practiced. “Wakane-sensei,” Aiba said respectfully. “Ah, Aiba-sensei. What brings you to the kendo club?” Wakane-sensei asked. “I’ve been learning kendo for about a year or so, and I was wondering if you would give me some tips,” Aiba asked.

“Ah, sure. Let me grab my bokuto from the staff room,” Wakane-sensei said. As he made his way out of the hall, Aiba watched as he yelled at a female student to correct her posture when there was a group of boys practicing kiri-kaeshi incorrectly and frowned. When the teacher returned, they moved to an empty space and started ji-geiko.

As they sparred, Aiba was pleased to note that he was currently on par with the sensei. When they were done, Wakane-sensei gave him a few pointers on how to improve himself. Aiba thanked him and made a few sly backhanded comments meant to make it obvious that if he dared to treat the students unfairly again, he would definitely be in trouble.

Now, Aiba came off as unthreatening most of the time, but he could occasionally be as threatening as Jun on a rampage. The others were just very lucky to only have seen him get angry once, in all the years that they’d known each other.

As Aiba left, feeling as if he had done a job well done, he heard the teacher yelling at the group of boys and smiled, pleased. He swung his bokuto slightly as he walked back to the staff room. Now, he could focus on helping the other four with the Yamamoto case. When Aiba returned home, it was to Jun and Nino frantically typing away as Sho and Ohno crowded around them.

Aiba quickly dropped his things off in his room and joined Ohno and Sho in watching Jun and Nino. “What’s going on?” he asked quietly. “Someone’s trying to hack into our files. I just informed Johnny-san, but he’s also dealing with an attack at the same time. All the teams are. Apparently, a hacker group just launched an attack on the entire company,” Sho explained quickly.

Just then, Nino yelled, “Sho, get on your laptop, quick!” Sho did so immediately, his laptop immediately running the code that Jun sent him. He started typing as will, eyes focused. All teams were trained to fight off any and all attempts to find out more about a specific team or the company. They had to go back every once in a while to the company to refresh their hacking skills. Those skills were coming into use now, as they fended off an attack.

Finally, after a long while, the attack stopped. Sho and Jun stopped frantically typing, but Kazuko immediately went on to strengthen all the firewalls and further encrypted their files. As she did so, they received a text message from Johnny-san.

“All teams, the national security tea has successfully locked onto our hackers. I will be sending in the following teams to deal with them: the national security team, and the law enforcement team. Good luck,” the message read.

The five of them exchanged looks as they settled in to wait. The fact that someone knew that there were specific teams indicated that there was a mole in the company, and that was something that Johnny both feared and hated. That day, they went to bed tense and worried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ji-geiko: Undirected practice where the kendōka tries all that has been learned during practice against an opponent.  
> Kiri-kaeshi: Striking the left and right target points in succession, practising centering, distance, and correct technique, while building spirit and stamina.  
> Bokuto: Kendōka use hard wooden swords (木刀 bokutō) to practice kata.


	7. Chapter Six

The next day, they woke up bright and early, too worried to sleep in.

They gathered in the living room and checked their emails, where there was an email waiting for them. It was an email calling in all teams to return to HQ for a briefing. The five of them called in sick to the school and left for the office. The large briefing room was crammed full with people, which soon lessened as they opened the connecting briefing room so that they could spread out.

Finally, the seniors in the front of the room called for silence as someone tested the microphone. The rooms quietened as Johnny-san spoke. “Good morning, all teams I apologize for the early morning gathering. I’m sure all of you had a late night dealing with the hackers. Now, the law enforcement team, the national security team and yours truly have spent the entire night hunting down our hackers,” he said.

Here, murmurs broke out and Johnny laughed,” I’m not that old, you brats. I watched every single one of you grow and learn more about the world, I’m not going to leave until I see what our company has been working towards! Anyway, we have traced and caught our hackers, and have sent them to the Central Police Station. Expect news reports in the next few days. Good job in defending our company, boys. Dismissed!” The noise level rose as people started filing out.

“Oh, wait. Educational, political, law enforcement, and national security teams, please remain in the room,” Julie Kitagawa said. Arashi groaned as they stopped moving, letting the other teas file out. They moved towards the front of the room where the political (V6), national security (Kinki Kids) and law enforcement (SMAP) teams, Johnny, Julie and Yoikawa was waiting for them.

“Boys,” Johnny said. “Julie-san, Johnny-san, Yoikawa-san, sempais, ohayo gozaimasu,” they greeted. Yoikawa looked at them, but made no acknowledgement towards them. Yoikawa took charge of the younger teams, those who were training to become part of a team and the new teams. As one of the longer-lasting groups, Arashi fell under Julie and Johnny’s jurisdiction. “Boys, the hackers we traced told us that the Yamamoto family had hired them. It’s time to deal with this problem once and for all,” Johnny said.

“Johnny-san, it has come to our attention that-“ Sho spoke up. “As observant as ever, you five. Yes, when I say once and for all, I mean once and for all. Therefore,” Johnny said, turning to Yoikawa, “You are fired.” Yoikawa sputtered. “Fired? Kitagawa-san, there must be some kind of mistake…” he trailed off. “Oh, we made no mistake. Did you really think that I would not find out who the mole was? Also, the teams’ standards under you have been dropping, don’t think I haven’t noticed that,” Johnny snapped.

Julie and the other teams watched as Kinki Kids arrested and handcuffed Yoikawa. “You won’t get away with this! We nearly got you one, we can always try again! Anyway, what’s preventing me from telling Yamamoto who you all are, huh?” Yoikawa snarled. “We have the ability to arrest people and put them in jail without trial, Yoikawa. There’s a reason why what we can do is kept a secret, even from you,” Tsuyoshi said.

As Tsuyoshi and Koichi dragged Yamamoto away, Johnny turned back to the remaining three teams. “Anyway, Yoikawa was working for Yamamoto, and we have all the evidence we need to bring both Yamamotos down. The emails with the information have been forwarded to you. Good luck, and do us proud, teams. Go bring them down,” Johnny said.

“Johnny-san, Julie-san.” The two teams bowed and left the room. Finally, they could bring down their thorn in their side. “Let’s go fire some people!” Aiba said cheerily, making the three teams laugh.

-

The next day, when they returned to school, they were followed by three of the law enforcement team, SMAP, and Tsuyoshi-san from the national security team. They had agreed to split into half so that they could speed up the process.

When they entered the staff room, they found their tables piled with get well soon chocolates and the like. They shook their heads and packed everything into a large bag that Jun had had the forethought to bring. After they’d cleared their tables, they placed their things down and headed for the principal’s office, their sempais trailing after them.

“Ogura-san,” they greeted as they entered. “Ah, it’s the five of you. Come in, come in,” Ogura said. Jun made the necessary introductions before Aiba said, “We need your permission to fire a number of teachers, Ogu-san,” Aiba said, slipping into the nickname that they used to call him when they were younger. “Pass the information to me,” Ogura said.

Jun passed him their notes. He skimmed through them and nodded. “Kaede-chan,” he pressed a button for his secretary, “Please send in Kushigawa-sensei.” “This room is soundproof, isn’t it?” Nino asked, smirk on her face. Ogura nodded. “Have fun, go wild,” he said, leaning back in his chair. The five of them then left briefly to brief their substitute teachers on their lesson plans and headed back to the principal’s office where Kushigawa, Ogura and their sempais were.

As more teachers were called in, each one was systematically told their mistakes and fired. As the teachers looked over to Ogura, he just looked on impassively and said nothing. “Ogura-san, aren’t you going to do anything?” one of the teachers supporting Yamamoto cried. Just then, Yamamoto himself walked into the room. Ogura glanced at him before replying.

“What makes you think I can do anything? They have the power to fire any teacher, even me,” he said. The teachers’ cries of complaint faded away. “Yamamoto-sensei,” Ogura greeted. After all the work they had done, they would finally solve this problem of theirs. Hence, they of course, let their leader do the honors.

The other four had systematically taken turns to fire the teachers that entered the room before Yamamoto. In the end, including Yamamoto, six people stood in front of them. “Yamamoto Hiro. Cousin to politician Yamamoto Rei,” their leader said.

“Also the mastermind of the hacking of Johnny’s Entertainment. For the bribery of the nation’s people and illegal hacking, you are fired from this school and stripped of your right to teach, effective immediately. Please pack up your things immediately. Matsumoto-sensei, Tsuyoshi-san, please watch over him. Ninomiya-sensei, Sakurai-sensei, Aiba-sensei, sempais, please help me in ensuring that the other teachers will clear out their tables by the end of the day.”

The four of them and their sempais moved to do as they were asked to, and Ohno watched them with a blank expression on her face. As the teachers filed out, led by Sakurai, Ohno stayed behind. “Thanks for calling us in, Ogura-sensei,” she said.

“Well, you all sure have grown, huh. All five of you,” Ogura sighed. “Yes, we have,” Ohno smiled. “Well, I must admit, I called you guys in because I knew that there was something going on in this school, but also because I wanted to see how you all were doing. After all, I haven’t seen you guys since you all graduated from vocational school,” Ogura laughed, “Right, anyway, you’d best go do your job. Before I called you guys in, I heard much about what you’ve done. Keep up the good work.” Ohno bowed and left the office.

Jun met her outside, and said, “Tsuyoshi-san just left with Yamamoto.” The other teachers stared at them as they oversaw the teachers packing up their things. “Let the sempais deal with them,” Ohno murmured to her fiancé. Sho nodded and led the teachers down with their sempais. Finally, they were done with their greatest problem.

“I think we will have less teachers trying to do anything after they saw that entire scene,” Jun commented. After a while, when Sho returned, they went to class to take over the substitute teachers. Later that night, Nino said, “It’s been four months, almost five, since we stepped into Miyako Gakuen. Jun, your goal at the start of the year may be achieved after all. We’re at 90% student attendance, and we’re one or two weeks away from the end of the second quarter.”

Jun laughed in response. “We’re only staying a year in this school. Shall we start planning our finale for them?” Aiba asked. “That sounds like a good idea. Then, we won’t have to worry about that as the school year draws to a close,” Sho commented.  
Every year, they went to a different school, and every year, they planned out a performance for the last day of school as Arashi, the idol group, as a reward and form of appreciation for the students.

“Right, so, any song ideas? I like Monochrome,” Nino said. “How about Daremo Shiranai and Attack It?” Aiba suggested. “How long do we want the performance to be?” Jun asked. “We’re looking at a 45-minute time slot,” Sho checked their schedule and said.

“Okay. Those three are fine, but let’s add in Hope In The Darkness. I should be able to get the tech ready by then,” Jun said. “GUTS! and Monster,” Ohno spoke up. “That’s six songs. We’ll think of another one or two songs and that should make up 45 minutes,” Jun said. “How about Energy Song and Zero-G?” Sho suggested.

“That should work,” Jun thought it over, “Okay then. I’ll start planning it. We’ll need the staff to come in and someone needs to inform the school management.” “I’ll inform Ogura-sensei and Johnny-san tomorrow. For now, let’s turn in for the night,” Sho said.

“Oh right, Sho-chan, have you and Riida decided on the date for the wedding yet?” Aiba asked. Aiba’s question halted everyone in their tracks. Sho and Ohno had been discussing the date for weeks, and they were all dying to know the date.

Sho rubbed the back of his neck, but Ohno was the one that replied. “Some time next year,” she said. “Oh, really?” Aiba asked excitedly. “The date hasn’t exactly been set, but yeah, some time next year,” Sho said. “Cool!” Aiba cried. “Okay, now let’s go to bed,” Ohno ushered them into their rooms.


	8. Chapter Seven + Epilogue

As their last few months in Miyako Gakuen passed, they dealt with a few more cases of discrimination, mostly amongst the students, as the attendance rate of the school’s students slowly increased. Jun became more stressed as they prepared for their performance. As such, he became even more snappish than usual, and bickered with Nino every day.

Finally, one day, Nino snapped and dragged him away, leaving the stacks of plans on the living room table to do some ‘de-stressing’. They gathered the people needed to prepare their stage after both Ogura and Johnny gave the okay for them to go ahead with the performance.

Finally, it was the last day of school. The results of all the students had been returned to the students, and the classes that the five of them had taught all passed with flying colors. The last day was normally a half day, and they had no lessons.

All they had was assembly, but before that, they would assemble in class for their teachers to address them separately first. That morning, they woke up early and grabbed their performance necessities such as their masks, and headed out the door. Jun had arranged for them to meet the staff early so that he could make last-minute changes if necessary.

They reached the empty school and headed for the school hall. Jun passed his things to Nino and stayed out front to observe the stage set-up. The rest of them headed backstage where they were greeted by the staff and guided to a room that would act as their dressing room. They placed their things inside and closed the door. One of the staff passed Sho a key and he locked the room, before they went to join their youngest in observing the stage set-up.

As they watched, the stage was assembled and the stage curtains closed, covering the stage up. Then, they headed to the staff room as the first students started walking into the school compound. The staff moved to the backstage area, where they would remain and rest as they waited for the assembly to commence.

The back dancers practiced their dance moves as more and more students walked into school and to their classes, excitedly chattering about how it was their last day of school. The five of them left the staffroom when the bell rang, making their way to their classes.

Finally, the bell rang, the signal for students and teachers alike to start making their way to the hall. The five of them led their classes to the hall, and then went to sit at the back of the hall, where the teachers sat. After the entire school was assembled, Ogura started speaking.

“Good morning, school. Today’s your last day in school, and most of you know what that means. We have a very special performance planned out for you today. It was done with the help of our new teachers, Sakurai-sensei, Ohno-sensei, Ninomiya-sensei, Matsumoto-sensei and Aiba-sensei,” he said. At that, the five of them stood up and bowed.

As Ogura continued speaking, the five of them remained standing and quietly exited the hall. As soon as Sho closed the door behind them, they broke out into a run as they made their way to their dressing room so that they could get changed and get ready for the performance. Ogura had agreed to try and give them as much time as possible, and hence, they were almost done changing when they heard him say, “So, for our performance today, we’ll only have one, unfortunately."

This was met with groans from the students. “However,” he continued, “I’m sure all of you will be very pleased, despite the only performance.” Here, they quickly wore their masks, ensuring that they were firmly in place without any risk of them falling off. Their back dancers and the staff nodded at them to show that they were ready, and Ogura said, “Now, without further ado, the one and only ARASHI!”

There was a moment of silence as the students tried to register what their principal had said. Then the screaming started. The curtains slowly opened just as all the lights in the hall were switched off. One spotlight was shining on the centre of the stage, where someone in a purple mask was sitting. The rest of the stage was pitch-black. Then, the music to Monochrome started.

As Jun danced, the other spotlights came on and turned off one by one, showing that there were four other empty seats. Then as the intro of the song came to an end, the spotlight on Jun turned off and the spotlight on the far right turned on, showing Ohno in her blue mask, singing the first verse of the song and dancing in the chair.

The students could not seem to stop screaming, but that didn’t stop them from continuing their performance. They proceeded through Monochrome and the dance break, the staff quickly clearing the chairs, which led up to Monster.

After Monster, the intro for Attack It started. When Attack It ended, the curtains closed to allow the five of them and their back dancers to take a short break. They made sure that everyone was in a good condition to continue the performance and began the second half. GUTS! started playing and the screams, if possible, became even louder and high-pitched.

GUTS! was followed by Energy Song, then the mood was changed slightly with Daremo Shiranai. Zero-G soon followed, and as the spotlights turned off as they walked to the back of the stage, they quickly put on the vests that had the technology needed for Hope In The Darkness.

The back wall of the stage had been covered with a white plastic sheet, and the projector came on. The spotlights turned back on, albeit slightly dimmer. The five of them were frozen in their positions, as if waiting for something. Then, Jun started moving.

He snapped his fingers three times, and each time, the purple line on the screen vibrated and three different notes were produced. The students quietened as they watched the performance. As each member moved, their respective line moved, showing that they were the ones creating the different sounds. Then, the intro to Hope In The Darkness started playing.

As they sang, they moved their bodies in different ways and the sounds that they created blended in with the original soundtrack of the song. Jun had been preparing this technology for a very long time, and they were all excited to see how it would turn out.  
Finally, they finished the performance, and the curtains closed to the students’ screams. The lights turned back on, and Ogura once again took the microphone. “Well, I did say you wouldn’t be disappointed,” he laughed.

As he spoke, the five of them quickly stripped out of their performance things and placed their masks back into their boxes, then running back to their seats and calmly entering while the students and teachers were distracted by Ogura speaking and the students screaming. Some were even crying.

“Let’s thank our senseis for allowing us to see this performance, shall we?” Ogura said. The entire school turned to the five and a jumble of ‘Thank you’s echoed around the hall. The five of them bowed back and sat down as the school turned back around for Ogura to continue speaking. Finally, he dismissed them and slowly the students left.

The year book that year would make no mention of the five teachers that had come to their school for a year. It was a rule they set in place for the people that called them in, so that they could continue to keep their identities hidden.

As the five of them left the school, they looked around. “A 98% attendance rate was the best we could do for them. I hope we won’t have to come back to this school any time soon,” Sho said. The others nodded and as one, they turned and left the school that was their home for a year.

**Epilogue**

Three weeks later, the five of them were called into headquarters again. “I have a new case for you boys,” Johnny said. He passed Sho a file. “Your next school will be Himeji High School,” Johnny said, and watched as the five of them looked at him with shocked expressions on their faces.

“The time has come for to deal with the discrimination going on in your old school. After all, we recruited you straight out of high school for a reason, remember?” Johnny said. They remembered their experiences in high school. That period of time was something they did not really want to think about, but they were not really surprised that they had to do this.

The time had come for them to face the ghosts of their pasts, but they would face it together. After all, they had grown up and learnt from their numerous experiences. They steeled their resolves and thanked Johnny, leaving headquarters.

 

They had a school to investigate.


End file.
